Chapter 37
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Rocana's Farewell
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Eirana scratched her ear and frowned.
“Which bastard is cursing me?”
- There’s nothing strange about it.
At Silver Fang’s mutter, Eirana roughly pounded Silver Fang, who was in the form of a baby tiger.
It looked like animal abuse from the outside, nothing more and nothing less. But Eirana suddenly stopped her movements.
At the same moment, a small knock came from her door.
Hearing it, Eirana tossed Silver Fang onto the bed and opened the door.
Standing there was none other than Rocana.
“You actually made it here?”
“It wasn’t difficult.”
She was staying in the palace as a guest, but wandering around so freely at this late hour wasn’t allowed.
Especially now, with a party underway in the palace, security was even stricter.
Yet Rocana had slipped past the guards and leisurely reached Eirana’s quarters.
As Eirana stepped aside from the doorway, Rocana entered the room.
She spotted Silver Fang on the bed and Black Fang by the window, then froze for a moment.
Gazing at the baby tiger and the small wyvern, Rocana muttered with a faintly surprised look.
“Sword spirits.”
“You recognized them right away?”
“I’ve seen a few before.”
With those words, Rocana gazed at Silver Fang and Black Fang with a rare expression of wonder.
Even for someone like her, who had lived for ages, encounters with sword spirits numbered only a handful.
Sword spirits radiating power this intense? She could count those on one hand.
“How did you come by them?”
“I made them.”
Rocana’s face registered fresh surprise at Eirana’s reply.
“So, what brings you here?”
Eirana asked with a puzzled look, and Rocana replied in her usual impassive tone.
“It feels like time for me to head back, so I came to say goodbye.”
A full month had passed since the Gold Sky Merchant Group affair wrapped up.
Staying in the capital might not have been inconvenient, but elves were a rare sight for humans.
Rocana was especially well-known among them. Plenty of swordsmen dreamed of crossing blades with her.
For Rocana, it was a major hassle.
Eirana nodded. Truth be told, so many elves lingering in a human kingdom was unusual in itself.
As Eirana moved to return the courtesy, Rocana spoke up.
“I do have one question.”
“Hm? What’s that?”
They’d known each other for centuries, yet Rocana had never once questioned her like this. Eirana eyed her curiously.
Meeting her gaze, Rocana continued.
“Where did you learn the sword, Lady Eirana?”
Eirana paused at the question.
Then she smiled and asked back.
“Why the curiosity?”
“Just personal interest.”
The Eirana Rocana knew was an unusual dragon.
Her first glimpse of Hatchling Eirana had carried sheer intimidation—not mere ill temper.
Hatchlings might live centuries, but emotionally, they were still children.
Yet Eirana possessed an adult’s cunning and remarkable self-control.
Traits rare in hatchlings coddled and overprotected.
Village folk saw her less as a child and more as a battle-hardened veteran.
And for a dragon, she brimmed with humanity.
Dragons could pick up human traits after prolonged wanderings, of course.
Rocana knew humans had a knack for drawing others into their mold.
Elves who mingled long with humans often became societal oddballs back home—though there were plenty of them.
Dragons weren’t immune either.
That was why they shielded young hatchlings from human contact.
The pitfalls of immature hatchlings mingling with humans? Dragon society’s long history laid them bare.
“I’m just a weirdo. Always loved working my body since I was little.”
Eirana shrugged.
“Your gladiatorial prowess caught me off guard.”
Newly matured dragons weren’t versed in arena combat.
The gulf between bookish knowledge and hard-won experience was vast.
A hatchling might study swordplay, but wielding it flawlessly in battle? Another matter.
Rocana had pierced that gap instantly.
‘What’s so weird about it?’
Recalling her duel with Rocana, Eirana nodded in understanding.
Had they kept fighting, how would it have ended? For Ha Yu-hyun, Rocana was a handful.
“How did you hone such skill?”
“Trade secret.”
Eirana flashed a bright smile. Rocana watched silently, then chuckled and nodded.
“I’ve got a question too.”
“……?”
“That sword strike from before. How’d you pull it off?”
Eirana vividly recalled the blade vanishing mid-swing, only to reappear.
Not mere blinding speed beyond perception. Nor magic.
It had truly blinked out of existence, then back.
Like a line drawn with no trace between start and finish. Eirana burned with curiosity.
She’d dodged by a hair since no killing intent was behind it—otherwise, peril.
Rocana answered.
“It skips the cutting process.”
“How?”
Eirana’s interest piqued.
This lay beyond her knowledge.
“I’m not entirely sure myself.”
Rocana shook her head, leaving Eirana baffled.
“It’s your technique.”
“One day, I just could.”
“…….”
Eirana’s face lit with realization.
This was a ‘realm’—the pinnacle beyond limits, glimpsed only after endless training. Akin to a ‘miracle.’
An attack flouting natural laws.
Her past life held no tales of such heights, but five centuries here had drilled one truth: old-world logic didn’t apply.
“Impressive. Think I could reach it?”
Rocana smiled at Eirana’s head-tilt.
“Lady Eirana? Absolutely.”
Her tone was like an elder sister cheering a gifted sibling. Eirana scratched her cheek.
“This incident has brewed a truly rotten mess.”
“…….”
Duke Detoa’s face contorted at Archduke Albesro’s words.
The Gold Sky Merchant Group—one of Adea Kingdom’s top three titans under Detoa’s wing—had shattered completely.
Losing that massive funding lifeline crippled the Archduke faction. Worse still: Detoa’s ousting from the court.
As one of the realm’s five great nobles, his life hung safe. But downfall? Inevitable.
No elves at the scene, and it might’ve been hushed. But they appeared.
And that wasn’t all.
Even Albesro hadn’t known of their slave trade.
Drift from the center meant drift from power.
House Detoa teetered on crisis, momentum faltering.
Albesro turned coldly from the mute duke.
Archduke Albesro—the king’s brother, once a crown prince contender. In the prior reign, he’d been the king’s right hand, wielding vast sway while His Majesty thrived.
A prince claimant entrenched at power’s heart? Extraordinary.
The Second Prince—visibly dimmer than Windsor—owed his powerhouse faction to Albesro’s backing alone.
‘Tch. If Windsor were half the fool, this’d be smooth sailing.’
Until two years pre-collapse, Albesro had eclipsed even Crown Prince Windsor at court.
That shifted because Windsor’s legitimacy paled beside his raw talent.
For a crown prince in his mid-twenties, his savvy bordered uncanny.
Albesro hadn’t foreseen such prowess in his nephew. Bitter pill.
This mess would nudge the power balance toward Windsor.
Albesro swept his gaze across the room.
“Anyone here hiding more skeletons? Speak now. I’ll be merciful this once.”
His voice dripped irritation. The room’s nobles—Archduke faction brass, kingdom power brokers—held silent.
They could pull strings under his nose.
Albesro eyed them.
“Anyone tied to the capital’s recent terrors?”
The past year’s incidents nationwide had rattled the populace.
His faction chipped at Windsor’s footing with them—but hadn’t authored them.
Caught? High treason. Endgame.
Too dicey a ploy.
They blamed enemy states.
Post-slave scandal, though, he suspected internal meddlers.
Satisfied after scanning, Albesro nodded.
“Nothing else noteworthy?”
Silent till now, Duke Detoa spoke.
“One oddity.”
“Which?”
“Princess Leria’s tutor.”
Albesro frowned curiously.
The tutor buzz was rife lately.
Leria’s transformation from spoiled girl was notable, but her stunning looks stole headlines.
Albesro had heard. Dismissed it.
“She was at the scene.”
“…….”
Albesro’s expression turned peculiar.
“Seems part of a private knight order under the crown prince.”
Albesro tsked softly.
Close aides weren’t odd. Unknown origins? Troubling.
Eirana wasn’t Windsor’s inner circle—just Rose’s hire. Albesro couldn’t know.
‘Watch closely for now.’
Secret knight orders? Migraine fuel.
Unseen things hid perils.
Albesro commanded plenty in shadows. Not for daylight deeds.